Elevator



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

B. SMITH.

ELEVATOR.

No. 343,404. A Patented Jun 8, 1886.

1U )ia\l (No Model.)

B. SMITH. 2 Shets-SheetQ.

ELEVATOR.

No. 343,404. Patented June 8,1886.

N. PETERS. PhokwL: nnn n nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn C.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD sMrrr oE sHERBRooKE, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNOR or onu- HALF TOTHE FALL MOUNTAIN PAPER COMPANY, or ROOKINGHAM,

VERMONT.

EL EVATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 343,404, dated June 8,1886. Application filed November I7, 1885. Serial No. 183,080. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD SMITH, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada,residing at Sherbrooke, in the county of Sherbrooke and Province ofQuebec, Oanada,have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinElevators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters orfigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in elevators; and it consists ofmeans whereby apositive lift is directed by a series of rolls containedbetween a screw-threaded shaft and its inclosing-nut upon theelevator-car. The periphery of the screw upon which the rolls revolveand by means of which they are advanced or withdrawn is equal to thevertical rise or maximum height ever attained by said car. By thismechanical arrangement of parts there is no danger of the car everdropping,

since two columns of rolls are employed, and thus, in case one part ofthe elevating mechanism breaks,- the elevator-car still has the other tosupport it, and the car to all intents and purposes is as securelysupported at any elevation as if it'were resting upon a fixed supportingstructure.

In the drawings accompanying this specification I have shown at Figure 1a side elevation of an elevator containing my invention,

while Fig. 2 represents a plan of the same in which the elevator issupposed to be at the top of the building; Fig. 3, a horizontal sectionof the screw and its inclosing-nut, while Fig. 4 is a vertical sectionshowing the manner of directing the rolls upward against the car inorder to lift the latter. Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively horizontal andvertical crosssections of the operative parts by which the 5 rolls aremade to actuate the car.

Insaid drawings, A is the frame or wellway of an elevator composed ofthe uprights B B, constituting the ordinary guide-rails. To these latterare attached metal boxes 0 O,

secured upon each side of the uprights B B,

and in which the rolls to be hereinafter described are designed totravel.

Directly beneath the elevator and at the bottom of the wellway I havedisposed two cylindrical nuts, threaded, as shown at b b b b,and adaptedto inclose and receive similarly-exteriorly screwthreaded cylinders E E.The pitch of said screw-thread may be more or less, according as theelevator-car is desired to travel more or to less rapidly and wouldvary, if desired, with each individual elevator, though generally thespeed is to be obtained by the speed of the prime motor. Furthermore, Ihave so cut the depth of the male screw-threads f f ff 6 that afterengagement with the female screw threads I) b b b in the nuts, annularscrewthrcaded grooves g 9 shall exist between the exterior periphery ofthe screws and *the interior periphery of their inclosing-nuts.

the length of the rolls, which move upon each other between them, as thescrews are rotated by the action of the prime motor within the inclosingfixed nuts. These screw-threaded cylinders E E are each provided with ashoulder or abutment, t 1', against which theentire 8 5 pressure fromthe rolls is brought, and which results from the weight of the car;hence these abutments form a point of leverage by which the entireseries of rolls is actuated through the movement of the prime motor. D Dare shown as sections of hollow cylinders, open at both ends, interiorlyscrewthreaded to correspond with their co-operating screws E E, and arefirmly attached to some fixed portion of the frame upon which theapparatus rests.

To actuate the rolls and force them to operate the elevator-car,I havesecured the screws D D, interiorly screw- 55 In lieu of the rolls I findthat metal 75 The nuts 9 E E upon similarly-arranged shafts or arborsjj, which are provided with a feather or spline and groove connection,to compel rotation of said screws in unison with them. At the same timethis permits of longitudinal or endwise movement upon said shafts, whichis consequent upon the action of the fixed nuts with said screws in theoperation of raising orlowering the car. These shafts jj are mounted insuitable bearings,F F, and upon their eX- tremities are affixed similarworm-gears,G G, which mesh and engage with worms H H, firmly attached tothe main drivingshaft I,to be actuated by any suitable prime motor.

In the section shown in Fi 4 it will be observed that the channels 7.1 kin the metal boxes are arranged tangentially with respect to the outerperipheries of the screw-threaded cylinders E E, so that as the latterare rotated by the movement of their shafts the series of rolls h h,&c., shall pass easily in ad vanee or retreat movement from the screwsinto the boxes (I C, or vice versa.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown a stout iron casting, J, bolted to theunder frame of the car, and with a neck, Z, terminating in a rectangularhead, m, similar in cross-section to that of the channels 7; 7;, formedin the boxes 0 G, in which it slides, and thus when the rolls are forcedupward the uppermost one shall bear against it, and being prevented frompassing thereby consequently tends to raise and lift the elevator-car.

The operation of this elevator is as follows: It being understood thatthe car is in a position upon the basement and the rolls are then allcontained about the periphery of the screws E E and between the latterand their inclosing-n uts D I). The prime motor is nowstarted, whichrotates the driving-shaft I, carrying the worms H H, which actuate theirgears G G. Thus rotation is conveyed by the shafts j j to the screws EE, which operate in similar paths of movement. Immediately thereuponpressure is brought to bear upon the rolls by and through the abutmentst i, which are located upon the rear portion of the screws. Consequentlythe only mode of advance for the rolls is to pass tangentially oil fromthe screw at that time containing them, and they advance up the verticalchannels or ways provided in the boxes 0 C and press against the heads mmof the castings J d, which secure the ele vator-car in place. Thisaction advances the car upward, the rolls gradually passing off from theperiphery of their screws into the boxes (J C, while the empty portionsof the screws advance outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Bythis means the car always has a solid support beneath it, and since Iintend to provide each elevator with two series of rolls, the car willnever be likely to fall, since it is very improbable that thecooperating parts of each of the elevating-machines would break at thesame time; hence there will always be one firm support to the car.Moreover, the two columns of rolls will enable the force to be moreevenly distributed and the car will move with greater freedom and casethan if only one of such columns was employed. To lower the car, theprime motor is simply reversed, and the ear byits own gravity and thatof the series of rolls will compel the latter to retreat from theirchannels in the boxes 0 O, and again rearrange themselves upon theexterior periphery of their screws E E, as heretofore explained. By thiscontrivance I obviate the dangers now existing by the employment of wireropes and safetycatches, and thus reduce the danger to a minimum byhaving a permanent positive continuous support always beneath the car.

My invention is very simple, not liable to become deranged or broken,and can be made very compact and built at a small expense.

I claim- 1. Incombination with an elevator, a solid extensible supporton which it rests, and meeh anism for forcing said support upward toraise said elevator, said support consisting of a series of separaterolls, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the rotary cylinders and stationary nuts havingscrew-threaded connection therewith, the threads of the former havingabutmeuts i, with the rolls h h interposed between said cylinders andnuts, the boxes 0 0, into which said rolls pass tangentially, and theelevator provided with rigid parts m, which extend into said boxes andrest on said rolls, in order that they and said elevator may be raisedand lowered by the latter, substantially as set forth.

3. A solid support for an elevator, said support consisting of a columnof unconnected parts, and a box or guideway within which they may riseand descend, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RICHAR D SMITH.

Witnesses:-

H. E. LODGE, F. CURTIS.

